Sewer cleaner



H. LA MOTTE SEWER CLEANER Jun@ 27, 1933.

Filed March 30, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l J une 27, 1933e H. LA MOTTE Filed March A50, 1931 Patented June. 27, 1933 UNITEo STATES SOTA.

PATENT OFFICE I'IENRY LA MOTTE, or MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, AssIGNoE, EY DIRECT AND MEsNE ASSIGNMENTS, or ONE-MALE To HARRY RONDEAU, or LITTLE CANADA, MINNE- SEWEE. CLEANEEv i Application led'March 30,y 1931. Serial No. 526,230.

This invention relates to devices for cleaningvand unclogg'ing sewers and otherconduits. 1

In many instances conduits become thoroughly clogged with foreign material and it is diflicult to remove or flush out the obstruction. In theca'se of sewers or other underground conduits employing drain tile or lapped pipe, roots and other plant growths work their way throught-he joints of the tiles and spread out within the interior of the conduit, growing rapidly and eventually causing a complete obstruction.

It :is an object of my Vinvention to provide a simple and highly efficient conduit clean ing device having a working end which may be projected into a conduit from a convenient and accessible point, such as a Y-branch or lateral fitting and which will cutout, scrape, loosenand disintegrate an obstruction.

More specifically itis `an object to provide a highly eiiicientdevice of the class described which'embodies a rotary cutting head adapted to fit the interior of a conduity and carrying an auger or drilling elementadapted to disintegrate roots, foreign materialand other hard obstructions disposed within the'conduit, said head being driven by means ofa flexible driving shaft encased in a flexible conduit and coupled with a. source of power mounted exteriorly of .the conduit." j

A further object is to provide in a device of theclass described,self-adjustable cutting orscraping blades adapted to conform tothe cross sectional Vshapes of conduits varying considerably in diameter and further adapted to'center `the head properly for driving.

These and. other objects and .advantages of the invention'will be morefully'set forth in-the following. description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, in lwhich'ylike reference characters-refer to similar parts throughoutthe sever-alviews, and inwhichzw j 'y f Fig. l is a view in lvertical section shows ing my cleaning device applied in a sewer ordrain conduit disposed below ground and extending from the basement of a building;

`j Fig. showsthe rotary cutting head of' my device in larger scale applied in a portion of a conduit; I 1

Fig.- 3 is a cross section taken .onthe line 3-3,0f Fig. 2; I 1

Fig; 4; is .a cross sectionY takenthrough a conduit wherein 'my device is applied, the rotary cutting head eing shown in front end elevation; Y f

Fig. 5 is a top plan, some portions being broken away showing the truck mounting for the driving motor vof my device and the driving connections;A

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectionalV view taken longitudinally. through 'a suitable form of flexible driving shaft and casing therefor, and f Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating the lshank or driving end of the` flexible shaft shown in Fig. 6.

In the drawings an embodiment of my invention is shown operativelyl applied to an underground sewer conduit C which comprises the conventional lapped tiles, disposed below the floor F of the basement of a building. The vertical portion of the conduit C is provided with a Ysbranch or fitting B which has a removable plug not shown in the drawings. y My device utilizes a self-adjustable rotary cutting head comprising a hub 8 having a longitudinal slot in one endthereof for receiving a shank or tongue 9which is coupled with vone endof a flexible driving shaft.

Hub 8 carries a series of pivoted cutting blades 10, said blades being formed in the Amanner of ily-ball levers pivoted ladjacent their inner ends to supporting ears 8a carried by the Ahub and arranged circumferentially thereof. Although .any suitable number 'of theseblades 10 may be provided, in the drawings the hub 8 is shownas carrying three blades. The inner' ends ofthe pivoted cutting blades may be interconnected in the manner shown in Figs. 3 and 2 by `means of coilsprings 11 to normally force the outer and longer cuttingportions 10a 0f the blades outwardly. If desired these springs may be dis.- pensed with as centrifugal force eifected'by the rotation'of 'the headfs suiiicient tourge the' cutting portions 10a outwardly. HubS at its forward end carries an axially projecting auger 12 which may be, if desired, integrally formed therewith and as shown the tip of said auger terminates adjacent the plane defined by the forward ends of the elongated cutting portions 10a when said cutting portions are in the average spread position.

My cuttinghead is driven by a suitable source of rotary power disposed exfferiorly of the 'pipe or conduitto be cleaned and in the embodiment of the invention illustrated I provide a motor M of adequate power rigidly mounted onvthe platform of a wheeled truck T which truck, if desired, may be supported on a portable track P comprising spaced rails secured together by cross bars at their ends. As shown, the armature shaft of the motor is disposed transversely of the truck and-is coupled with a worm 13 journaled in a suitable frame 14e, which worm meshes with a worm gear 15 fixed to a shaft 16 which is mounted in suitable bearings and extends longitudinally of truck T. Shaft 16 isconnected by a coupling 17 with theshank 18a of an elongated flexible driving shaft 18 which may be of any suitable construction and which as illustrated comprises a multiplicity of flexibly connected links. Flexible driving shaft 16 is encased by a flexible conduit 19 and the outer end of said conduit may be clamped by a bracket 20 fixed to the forward end of the truck T. The forward end of the flexible driving shaft, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, is flexibly connected with the hub 8 of the cutting head by means of the twisted link or tongue 9. i

'In operation when it is desired to remove and disintegrate an obstruction in a ,sewer pipe or other conduit, the Y-branch B is opened or if no Y-branch is provided, a suitable opening is made in one of the sections or portions of the conduit and the cutting head of my device is inserted through the opening and thrust through the conduit in the direction of the obstruction. The power may be turned on after the head is within the conduit and the rotation ofthe head, due to its shape and the auger or screw mounted thereon, will tend to move the device forwardly toward the obstruction. Centrifugal force of the rotating head causes the cutting arms 10a, to be thrown outwardly uniformly against theinner periphery of the conduit and by reference to Fig. l it will be seen that the sharpened edges of the cutting bladesl closely scrapel the conduit, cutting and removing foreign matter, accumulations and `other obstructions.

One of the greatest dificulties with sewers and drains of ,the lapped tile type is the growth and presence of roots within the conduit. With my device lthe cutting blades quickly cut and remove all roots and plant growths. Substantially at the same time that the circumferentially arranged cutting blades scrape the inner periphery of the conduit, the point of auger 12 engages the central portion of the obstruction, boring through and disintegrating the same and when the obstruction is engaged the Aauger will of course force the cutting head through the same.

The circumferentially arranged cutting arms 10 operate inthe manner offly ball levers on a governor and if desired the springs 11 may be utilized to urge'the cutting ends of said arms outwardly with greater force. It will be noted that the disposition and construction of the arms perfectly centers the cutting head within the conduit making the head self-adjustable for conduits varying considerably in internal diameter. The outward swinging of the cutting blades 10a is of course limited by the engagement of the shorter portions of the arms or levers withv the hub 8.

The flexible driving shaft is conveniently driven by the source of power mounted exteriorly of the conduit and while various means may be provided for mounting the source of power, I prefer the use of a wheeled truck T which can be moved toward or from the conduit easily if desired. An additional advantage is obtained if the wheels of the truck are mounted upon spaced rails of a track, thus eliminating the lateral displacement of the motor supporting member due to the driving of the flexible element 18.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have provided a comparatively .simple but highly efcient cleaning device 'for sewers and conduits which is adapted to be easily applied to the interior of a conduitV and which is effective to very quickly loosen, cut and disintegrate an obstruction located therein.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, proportions andV arrangement ofthe parts without departing from the scope of my invention, which, generally stated, consists in a device capable ofcarrying out the objects above set forth and in the novel parts and combinations of parts disclosed and defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is v o 1. A rotary cutting head for cleaning sewers and other conduits comprising, a central hub, an axially alined drilling element at the forward end thereof and a series of circumferentially arranged arms pivoted to said hub to permit outward movement of their forward portions whereby when saidvhead is rotated, centrifugal force will cause outward movement of the forward portions of said arms.

2. The structure defined in claim'l. the said arms having sharpened advancing edges.

3, The structure defined in claim 1, said arms being arcuately curved adjacent their forward ends andhaving pointed tipsthe advancing edges.. of the arms being sharp-k and means for driving said head in one direction, said arms being arcuately curved adj a'- cent their forward ends with their concave surfaces disposed inwardly, the advancing edges of said arms being sharpened to form knives. v

5. A rotary cutting head for cleaning sewers and other conduits comprising, a hub, an axially extending boring element projecting forwardly from the hub, a plurality of cutting arms pivoted to said hub to permit outward movement of their forward portions said forward portions projecting ahead of said hub and the rear portions of said arms projecting behind said boring element and coiled springs located behind said boring element and connected with the rear portions of said arms to exert resilient tension on said arms to carry the forwardly projectingportions thereof radially outwardly.

6. A rotary cutting head for cleaning sewers and other conduits, comprising a central hub, an axial boring element applied to. said hub, projecting forwardlytherefrom and a v.plurality of circumferentially arranged arms pivoted at their-medial portions to said hub so as to normally be disposed substantially parallel to the axis of said hub, said arms having forward portions of arcuate-shape with their concave sides turned inwardly, the forward portions of said arms having sharpened advancing, edges forming knives and said arms being twisted slightly at their forward portions, so that the sharpened edges of the arms project outwardly a slightly greater distance than the other edges thereof. 7 A rotary cutting head for cleaning sewf ers and other conduits comprising, a central hub, an axially alined drilling element at the forward end thereof, a series of circumferentially arranged arms pivoted to said hub to permit outward movement of their forward portions, and means for moving the forward portions of said arms outwardly.

8. A rotary cutting head for `cleaning sewers and other conduits, having a central hub, an axially alined drilling element at the forward end thereof, a plurality of'circumferentially arranged arms pivoted to said hub to permit outward movement of their forward portions, means for causing outward movement of said forward portions, and means for driving said head in one direction, said arms being arcuately curved adjacent their forl ward ends with their concave surfaces disposed inwardly, theadvancing edges of said arms being sharpened. f

k9. A rotary cutting head for cleaning sewers and vother conduits comprising a central hub, an axiallyaligned drilling element at' the forward endthereof and a series of circumferentiallyl arranged arms normally disposed substantially parallel to the axis of said hub and pivotally connected thereto near their rearward ends to permit movement of the forward ends of said arms to and from the axis of said hub, springs for urging the forward ends of said blades outwardly, said arms lhaving sharpened advancing edges to form cutting blades, the cutting edges of said blades being respectively located but slightly `further from said hub than the opposite edges thereof. v In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

' HENRY LA MOTTE.

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